UFC 174 Post-Mortem: Canada’s New Favorite Son

By: John HovenJun 16, 2014

Say
what you will about his style, but Rory MacDonald’s skill is
undeniable. | Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

In a bout that would likely determine which fighter will get a
welterweight title shot early next year, Canada’s Rory
MacDonald thrilled the largely biased crowd with a performance
he called “the best victory of his career.”

His opponent, heavy-handed striker Tyron
Woodley, was never able to land the often talked about
one-punch knockout on the rising young protégé of Georges St.
Pierre. With the loss, Woodley’s career marked dropped to 13-3,
including 3-2 in the UFC.

In many ways, MacDonald continues to fight beyond the guys standing
across the cage from him. There are plenty of MMA fans who don’t
like his style, the company’s president has been critical of him
after many recent fights, and -- on this particular night -- he was
likely battling the memory of losing to Carlos
Condit in the exact same building four years prior.

Here, the 24-year old MacDonald flipped the script and was
announced as the 30-27 winner on all three judge’s scorecards,
largely on the backbone of his effective punching and occasional
head kicks.

The always quiet and humble Western Canadian native, hailing from
nearby Kelowna, British Columbia, was his usual polite self after
the win. Yet, he also was quick to pass along a special message the
UFC brass. “They should know that I’m ready, and one day very soon
the belt will be mine,” he noted.

With his second straight win, MacDonald is slowly starting to
silence his critics of a year prior, and getting closer to
solidifying his future title shot in the process. However, over the
course of his 10 fights for UFC he has also given many viewers
reasons to dislike his cerebral approach to fighting. Regardless of
where the experts land on the skill debate, most fans still prefer
the crash and bang style of fellow challengers Robbie
Lawler and Matt Brown to
an out-think your opponent strategy often implored by Canada’s new
favorite son.

Was this fight convincing enough to steer the masses into a
different way of thinking? We shall see.

WINNING IS FOR LOSERS

(+ Enlarge) Photo: D. Mandel/Sherdog.com

The Arlovski-Schaub fight was atrocious.

It wouldn’t be a UFC pay-per-view without some post-fight
discussion and debate regarding the officiating and/or scoring.
This week’s exhibit is named Andrei
Arlovski. With two judges giving it the former heavyweight
champion 29-28, and the descenting judging going with a score of
29-28 Schaub. So, Arlovski won, right?

Not so fast.

Fans booed the decision inside the arena, while people at home
threw up their arms and spilled their popcorn and beer. Schuab just
held his newly broken jaw in place, trying to stop the pain.

What happened then? How did the winner actually come out the loser
in the minds of most observers?

Arlovski and Schuab exchanged few punches over the first two
rounds, mixed in with plenty of clinching, which really turned the
crowd against them early in the fight.

“Honestly, I feel really horrible,” Arlovski shared. “My plan was
knock him out and I didn't want to leave it up to the judges. I
wasn't happy about my performance in this fight… It's good that
Dana White isn’t here [at the post-fight press conference] because
he'd be so pissed at me. He gave me great opportunity. I didn't
like my fight tonight.”

The former champion wasn’t the only one. Fans showed their
displeasure with the decision via loud boos at the end of the
three-round fight.

“For some reason, I was nervous a lot,” Arlovski noted. “When I
stepped inside the Octagon; my hands, my legs shook for some
reason. I was just nervous more than the first time when I fought
14 years ago. Next time, I promise I'm going to do much
better.”

Although he didn’t attend the press conference, White did share
some thoughts on Fox Sports 1 later in the evening.

“I think everyone would agree that fight sucked,” White said,
getting right to the point as usual. For him, it wasn’t about how
the fight was scored. White believed the first two rounds could
have gone either way. His issue was the lack of action.

“I made a big mistake putting that on the main card that should be
on the prelims. For Schaub to walk around to think he got robbed is
hysterical,” White stated. “That fight was horrible. Do you know
who lost in that fight? The fans. The fans lost in that fight.”

OSP’s REIGN OF TERROR

(+ Enlarge) Photo: D. Mandel/Sherdog.com

This much is certain: OSP is a bad, bad man.

GSP may never return to the Octagon, but fans are certainly
starting to take notice of OSP: Ovince St.
Preux. The light heavyweight took on fellow prospect Ryan Jimmo at
UFC 174 and eventually earned a stoppage via choke after Jimmo’s
arm was broken.

Now sporting a 16-5 record, OSP is 4-0 in the UFC, so expect some
greater hype for his next fight. Outside of champion Jon Jones, few
have won four fights in a row in the light heavyweight division of
late, regardless of the level of competition inside the cage.

After going 6-1 in Strikeforce, and having not lost a fight in UFC,
getting the additional exposure of being on the main card should
help raise OSP’s profile a bit moving forward. A top-10 opponent
would most likely be next for the Miami native.

MISC. DEBRIS

With an announced attendance of 13,506 in Vancouver, UFC 174 drew a
live gate of $1.14 million. … Kiichi
Kunimoto overcame the long odds assigned him by Las Vegas
bookmakers in tapping out “TUF: Brazil” fighter Daniel
Sarafian -- becoming the first person to do so. Kunimoto earned
a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his achievement. …
Tae
Hyun Bang of South Korea claimed $100,000 in bonus money for
his fight with Kajan
Johnson, earning both “Performance of the Night” and “Fight of
the Night” … Tim Tebow, a friend of Brendan
Schaub’s, was in attendance to see his buddy’s fight. … Light
heavyweight Ryan Badar kneed and elbowed his way to a three-round
decision win over Rafael
Cavalcante.